OT: Made in the USA

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I'm o.k. with that but I dislike Putin, not Russia. Not sure why I should dislike Zelensky and Ukraine. They never really caused much trouble and are just defending themselves against a brutal conqueror. We excluded Russia from tariffs. That implies something to me along with other things the administration has done.
You don't have to dislike zelensky and ukraine but its ok if others do.

I'm ASSUMING he left russia off the tariff list bc he's trying to negotiate an end to the war. Not saying its right or wrong but the man is pretty good at negotiations.
 

johnson86-1

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It's not that I'm opposed to all moral arguments but sometimes I they don't matter to me (child labor, slave labor for instance). Let the Chinese and others decide whether their govt is appropriate or not. We're allies with the Saudis and Qataris, hardly angels, and we chose Russia and Putin over Ukraine. And China spends nowhere near what we do on their military. And I need to save money on buying products because my and my family's health and homeowners insurance with American companies, including American pharmaceutical companies keeps going up. I'll buy something Hecho en Mexico too if it saves me money and is a good product. An American-owned importer is profiting from that too.
In what world do you think this is the case? Biden administration pushed against Ukraine using US provided equipment/munitions to strike certain things in Russia. Not informed enough to know whether that was the right decision, but it doesn't sound like choosing Russia as much as being concerned about escalation.

Even if we had never provided billions in support to Ukraine, that wouldn't be choosing Russia and Putin. It would just be deciding there wasn't enough of an american interest there.
 
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Podgy

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View attachment 786263
Yes, pretty much. Plus some tech, the development of which is mostly driven by capitalism. Damn capitalism and all the people not in grinding poverty anymore.
The experiments have been done. Capitalism with all of it's flaws outperforms socialism and communism. Even Chi-Comms know this. Plus there's no libertarian paradise on the planet. Market-based economies produce vast amounts of wealth that governments tax to pay for social programs.
 

L4Dawg

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Corporations require more profit than they did back when the middle class could afford to raise a family and have a mother in the house. Look at how much more executives make vs the average worker in their company.

It used to be CEO's made 60 times what their workers made. It is now 1,000 times more.

It cost a lot more to live than 20 years ago and wages haven't really gone up. That profit goes somewhere. Also amazingly enough, there are more billionaires in the US than any time in the history of the country. During Covid, over a Trillion dollars shifted to the top 1%. That was lost from everyone else.
That is a reply to my post how?
 

Villagedawg

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Apple specifically has built a model where they addict the purchaser to their product, then make that product obsolete within 3-5 years, ensuring a purchase from the addicted. If you think I'm crazy, try to use a 5-year-old iPad. It still works fine, but none of the apps are supported,, so unless you are willing to forgo apps and watch Hulu/ESPN/etc using the web browser they have essentially bricked it through software. It is very similar to the phone (plus, my phone mysteriously only charges to 60% after 3 years of use). If we can break the software obsoletion there are plenty of usable phones, no "new" feature in the last 10 years is "needed" for a phone.

Why everyone in my family (including me) uses an iphone I have no idea ...
It's the General Motors approach. They invented this with a "new" model car every year. Ford eventually followed suit. Make your product intentionally obsolete. Voila!
 

Podgy

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In what world do you think this is the case? Biden administration pushed against Ukraine using US provided equipment/munitions to strike certain things in Russia. Not informed enough to know whether that was the right decision, but it doesn't sound like choosing Russia as much as being concerned about escalation.

Even if we had never provided billions in support to Ukraine, that wouldn't be choosing Russia and Putin. It would just be deciding there wasn't enough of an american interest there.
What concessions are we asking from Russia? The prior administration supported Ukraine. This one doesn't and favors Russia. That could change but that's the case right now.
 

johnson86-1

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I find it real annoying when folks try to hide behind "now I don't want to be political, but...". If you believe something, stand on it and accept that some people are going to disagree (and they could even be correct!).

"Should we make more things in the USA, and what will that mean?" is precisely a political question, and one that reasonable people can disagree on.
I think that is a policy question. You can discuss policy without discussing politics if you want to. I mean, not you or anybody else on this board, but just like if you drop a playboy in a locker room full of unsupervised 13 year old boys, you're not forcing them to look at it.
 

OopsICroomedmypants

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If they would make it so it would function without having to install updates and eat up storage space I’d have a phone that would last twenty years. Also, if they could ensure the CCP wasn’t watching me take a dump, yep, I’d pay more for that.
 

The Peeper

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My wife and I were talking about this the other day. In 1990 a family had a $30 bellsouth phone that lasted 20 years and paid $30 a month for phone service unless a kid 17’d up and called a 900 number. Now you either have $1000 iPhones each or you pay for a cell service at $200 a month.

I've never had an iPhone, the most I've ever paid for a Samsung Galaxy for my wife or myself has been $300 (usually less) and my AT&T service runs about $45 for each of us. We get about 5-6 years daily use out of the Galaxy's and the last 2 I've had became "streaming phones" that I use outside on the porch with a bluetooth speaker to play Spotify, MSU sports, podcasts etc. when I'm cooking, working in the yard etc. The outside streaming phone in use now is about 10 years old and works fine. It is also my burner phone that I have a free number from Text Now with and can use as a wifi phone and number to order crap off the internet with, give out to pushy salesmen when they need a number, etc. Never understood paying $1000+ for a phone that doesn't do much more that I do than what my 5 year old Samsung does.
 
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Podgy

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The thing people don't understand is that we manufacturer more now than we ever have. Its just a lower percentage of GDP.

Also, a lot of our manufacturing has become automated. We probably can't/shouldn't bring back jobs that require tons of human assembly b/c of the cost.
And the worker issue is important. We'd need to increase the labor force participation rate quite a bit or rely more on automation. White Americans, and Americans in general, no longer have big families.
 

dorndawg

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It's the General Motors approach. They invented this with a "new" model car every year. Ford eventually followed suit. Make your product intentionally obsolete. Voila!
I looked a for a minute and couldn't find it, but a while back I read about how kitchen appliance manufacturers were also early adopters of this. Even back in the day, appliances lasted quite a long while, so how could manufacturers get you to but more? Make new colors.

This really picked up in the 60s/70s which is how everything from that era was Harvest Gold, whatever that gross green color is, and that weird orange color.
 

horshack.sixpack

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I don’t want to make this political, but I just read an article on CNBC about the potential for iPhones to be manufactured in the U.S. According to the article, producing them domestically could increase the cost by up to 25%.

That raises an interesting question: Would you be willing to pay 25% more for your iPhone if it were made in the United States?
We voted with our wallet years ago and nothing has changed. Capitalism, which I favor, has pushed labor costs to the cheapest areas for labor to maximize profit. It will continue to do so. If nothing else, the belly aching over egg prices tells you all you need to know about how we feel about higher prices. Our best bet is to recognize that we are in a connected world, and maximize US potential for thriving in that world. The best negotiators realize that business is best done when both parties find value, rather than attempting to screw everyone you deal with.
 

dorndawg

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I think that is a policy question. You can discuss policy without discussing politics if you want to. I mean, not you or anybody else on this board, but just like if you drop a playboy in a locker room full of unsupervised 13 year old boys, you're not forcing them to look at it.
I'd love it if policy just existed in a vacuum, but it's ALWAYS going to be political. You simply cannot separate the two.

Also, "political" shouldn't be the pejorative it is today.
 
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johnson86-1

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What concessions are we asking from Russia? The prior administration supported Ukraine. This one doesn't and favors Russia. That could change but that's the case right now.
Again, not wanting to continue dumping billions into Ukraine isn't favoring Russia. That's just idiotic. Reasonable people can disagree about what interests of ours are implicated in the Russia invasion, and how much we should be willing to spend/sacrifice to promote our interests, but it's absurd to say that anything less than fully backing Ukraine's preferences is somehow picking Russia. Hell, at this point, I think telling Ukraine they shouldn't be willing to concede any territory to win the war is somewhat equivalent to the outsiders that want Gaza to stay committed to terrorism with Israel. You're basically encouraging self destructive behavior of other people to promote your own interests. At some point, even if you don't have an obligation to look out for the interests of residents of another country/territory, there is still a moral aspect of encouraging people to just sacrifice themselves with no end game that benefits them.
 
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And the worker issue is important. We'd need to increase the labor force participation rate quite a bit or rely more on automation. White Americans, and Americans in general, no longer have big families.
Just did some calculations so feel free to check my math, but we manufacturer 17 times what we did in 1950 per capita.









1950​
2024​
population151,325,798.00340,100,000.00
GDP$ 308,153,000,000.00$ 29,350,000,000,000.00
Percent mfg
25%​
10%​
$ mfg$ 77,038,250,000.00$ 2,935,000,000,000.00
$mfg/person$ 509.09$ 8,629.81
16.9515​
 

horshack.sixpack

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I still don't understand the phone pricing. I can go to Walmart and get a 75" smart tv for $500 but a new phone cost $1,000
Brief statement on this. Size matters. Smaller circuit boards demand more layers for connectivity and demand more complex design from blind and buried vias in the PCB to creative (expensive) ways to deal with heat, etc. That complexity then ratchets up the cost of quality testing, while often having a negative impact on yields. So in your TV example, there is plenty of real estate to have larger PCBs with fewer layers, even cheaper to have multiple PCBs mounted in various locations. Also, the cables and connectors that connect those boards are way cheaper than what you have to use inside something as small as an iPhone. And your iPhone has way more processing power, which costs more by default, and with respect to getting heat off of it.

Fun fact, for years, and I assume still today, Intel processor speeds were largely determined through testing. Same chips and process were used, but post manufacture testing decided whether a particular chip would run at 3GHz vs 2GHz. The 3GHz cost more because the yields were lower than on the 2GHz but ultimately they had the same raw materials and manufacturing process behind them.
 
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HRMSU

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It's an interesting question. I try to buy made in USA when I can; often there simply isn't an option. Usually something made in USA will be of a higher quality; I'm not sure how that could/would be the case with an iphone?

Let's say we all do want all our phones and toasters and toilet brushes made here. Who exactly is going to work at these new factories? Unemployment is currently at a low 4% and, ahem, we're not exactly immigrant-oriented as a country these days.
Nobody in my orbit is against Legal migration. In fact, done properly, it's our demographic advantage over our more closed rivals like China and Russia....emphasis on doing it right. Problem is it's become a political football for both parties and neither wants a real practical working solution because they'll lose their political narrative.
 

The Peeper

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I guarantee you i know more about technology and manufacturing than you do.

Oh boy here we go again...............

youare GIF
 

dorndawg

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Nobody in my orbit is against Legal migration. In fact, done properly, it's our demographic advantage over our more closed rivals like China and Russia....emphasis on doing it right. Problem is it's become a political football for both parties and neither wants a real practical working solution because they'll lose their political narrative.
I hear you, and you're not wrong. However, when we say "we're all for legal immigration!" and then elect a government which makes it nearly impossible to do just that - well, I think that's called "saying one thing and doing another".
 
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Yeti

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I lived most of my life without an iPhone and I was happy . If it hurts China and I can no longer afford one then so be it But we will pay whatever apple ask….did you ever think you would pay a grand for one? But we do. They will just get financed over 3 years and we will have US manufacturing and US finance jobs as a result. Or maybe we even have kids with no iPhone who communicate verbally….win win in my book
 

The Peeper

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BTW, in mid-1950s around 25% of American homes had no indoor toilets, showers or bathtubs (my late father-in-law grew up in such a house in rural Arky), maybe 50% of homes had central heating, fewer than 5% had air conditioning, almost 30% had no car and 33% didn't have a TV. But those memes. Anyone who longs for the good old days has a bad memory
Which poster on here has the father in law that washes his hair in the kitchen sink when he visits them? I bet he was in this "good ole days" crowd................
 
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Podgy

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Again, not wanting to continue dumping billions into Ukraine isn't favoring Russia. That's just idiotic. Reasonable people can disagree about what interests of ours are implicated in the Russia invasion, and how much we should be willing to spend/sacrifice to promote our interests, but it's absurd to say that anything less than fully backing Ukraine's preferences is somehow picking Russia. Hell, at this point, I think telling Ukraine they shouldn't be willing to concede any territory to win the war is somewhat equivalent to the outsiders that want Gaza to stay committed to terrorism with Israel. You're basically encouraging self destructive behavior of other people to promote your own interests. At some point, even if you don't have an obligation to look out for the interests of residents of another country/territory, there is still a moral aspect of encouraging people to just sacrifice themselves with no end game that benefits them.
We're stopped cyber operations and information operations against Russia, we've stopped federal efforts to combat Russian disinformation campaigns... I could go on. It's not just about no longer giving money to Ukraine. Trump has even publicly said he wants a reset with Russia and claimed publicly that Ukraine was responsible for the invasion. That's not being neutral.
 
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We're stopped cyber operations and information operations against Russia, we've stopped federal efforts to combat Russian disinformation campaigns... I could go on. It's not just about no longer giving money to Ukraine. Trump has even publicly said he wants a reset with Russia and claimed publicly that Ukraine was responsible for the invasion. That's not being neutral.
Its trump negotiating the way he always does. Trump says a lot of stuff.
 

HRMSU

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I hear you, and you're not wrong. However, when we say "we're all for legal immigration!" and then elect a government which makes it nearly impossible to do just that - well, I think that's called "saying one thing and doing another".
Not disagreeing with you but be open to flipping that statement at least. When we say "we're all for legal immigration" and we elect a government that turns the border into a turnstile.....
 

woozman

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I don’t want to make this political, but I just read an article on CNBC about the potential for iPhones to be manufactured in the U.S. According to the article, producing them domestically could increase the cost by up to 25%.

That raises an interesting question: Would you be willing to pay 25% more for your iPhone if it were made in the United States?
I think the cost would increase by more than 25%. A geopolitical guy that I follow thinks they'll be $3K-$4K each at some point in the near future.
 

Xenomorph

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I don’t want to make this political, but I just read an article on CNBC about the potential for iPhones to be manufactured in the U.S. According to the article, producing them domestically could increase the cost by up to 25%.

That raises an interesting question: Would you be willing to pay 25% more for your iPhone if it were made in the United States?
It’s time for consumers to push back on Apple posting $60B profits every quarter.
 

baddmann007

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I don't understand this either. Automation can drive down prices but i don't see how the assembly/automation from the tv to the iphone can be that much different.

Maybe size affects it a lot.
It’s because smart TVs mine and sell your data and position ads. They make more on selling your data and placing ads than they make on selling equipment. Vizio is publicly traded so they have to publish actual info and I was blown away by how much money they make selling ads and viewer data.

Same idea for android phones. Google subsidizes the os to make them less expensive. Take a look at your TOS in Android. I loved Android but I wasn’t happy with that. At least Apple takes privacy a little more serious, but that makes phone cost more.
 
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It’s because smart TVs mine and sell your data and position ads . They make more on selling your data and placing ads than they make on selling equipment. Vizio is publicly traded so they have to publish actual info and I was blown away by how much money they make selling ads and viewer data.
I'm assuming the only data they can sell is what you like watching right?

Not sure what other info i put on my tv unless they are hackng my internet!
 

Perd Hapley

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The math will depend on how much of the cost is labor. And can adult at $20/he do more than an 11 year old at $3/hr?
Do you know many American adults that would be doing that work?

My money is on the 11 year old being twice as productive.
 

Perd Hapley

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All I know is we as a Nation needs to decouple from China. Vietfuckingnam is fixing to get rich. They are going to get the first trade deal. Probably today with China upping the tariffs last night. If some of you would get past you Trump hate and study how he negotiates you would know the first deal is always the best and you do not want to be the last to make the deal. China will lose, China is ****** and Xi will be sent packing.

So, what’s your favorite thing about Samsung Galaxy phones and the Android OS? I’m due for a new phone soon, so I’m trying to get perspectives on all the options.
 

Anon1717806835

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The thing people don't understand is that we manufacturer more now than we ever have. Its just a lower percentage of GDP.

Also, a lot of our manufacturing has become automated. We probably can't/shouldn't bring back jobs that require tons of human assembly b/c of the cost.
I thought you were for the tariffs?
 
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I thought you were for the tariffs?
I'm for tariffs if they are used for negotiating reciprocity and for national security.

They aren't very free market otherwise.

And i didn't love what i saw for 2 weeks, but i've watched trump get wins enough that i was willing to wait and see if his negotiations worked.

I don't care about the labor. Show me the baby. I don't care about mean tweets either.